Insurrection hearings

 It’s about time. For too long, we have been fed a steady diet on talk shows and latenight TV of celebrity entertainers and sports figures. We delight in their self-promotion, life dramas and wealth and buy into their sales pitches and product sponsorship.

One consequence of America’s recent problems has been our increased exposure to ordinary citizens who have done extraordinary things. The search and recovery teams in the Surfside disaster are now real people to us. The firefighters in the American West are real people to us. The Capitol and DC police officers are real people to us. 

Unlike what we hear from celebrities, they speak genuinely about dangerous, challenging and selfless work. I believe that, unlike celebrities, these are the folks who evidence the essential American values, the values that remind us that America is us and not me.

To see Rep. Adam Kinzinger tear up in the Insurrection hearings and to listen to the officers like Michael Fanone describe their experiences of the insurrection call us all to ask ourselves what we can and must do to heal America.